1REPOSTED! The moment you have all, or at least some of you, been waiting for! This story is back and, I hope, better than ever! For those of you who read this story before, this version is similar in some ways and different in others. Although I haven't exactly finished it yet, I do have enough chapters done that I think I'll be able to work on it as I post them. Read!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did I would bathe in hundred dollar bills and drop out of high school. As it is, this is not so. Damn.

Chapter 1: The New Chick

It was September first and Hermione was sitting alone in a compartment of the Hogwarts Express. She glanced out the window anxiously to see if she could spot Harry and Ron. /Where could they be? It's just like them to be late and miss the train/ she thought worriedly. Suddenly someone plopped down beside her. Thinking it was one of the boys, Hermione turned around with a smile on her face only to be greeted by a stranger.

"Hiya, mind if I sit here?" The girl asked, very friendly.

Hermione was slightly taken aback. "Um, sure."

"Thanks ever so much," the girl said. She sounded slightly sarcastic, more in a self-mocking way than anything directed at Hermione. "I'm Jule. Who are you?"

"Hermione," Hermione answered slowly. "Are you new? I don't think I've ever seen you before. And your accent is strange; American?"

"Yeah, I'm from New York," Jule answered with a bright smile. "My school was destroyed by the Death Eaters, so I moved here. Heard Hogwarts was the best and safest place to be, so I knew it was for me."

"Cool," Hermione smiled back warmly.

She had never seen anyone quite like Jule. She was dressed completely in black in a mini-skirt that only reached about mid-thigh and a tight tank-top with spaghetti string straps. She was very thin and her skin was pale, but she didn't seem sickly at all; in fact she seemed to be the epitome of health. Her muscles didn't bulge but they were clearly well defined and Hermione guessed that she must play Quidditch. Her ears were heavy with silver earrings and she had a tiny silver nose-stud. Her make-up was dark which only exaggerated her paleness: black eye-shadow and heavy black eye-liner and lipstick that was a very dark shade of red. Her hair was black, long, and curly and hung messily down her back as though it had never been touched by a comb. Seated she looked to be about the same height as Hermione, who was 5'2". But it wasn't just the way that Jule looked, it was the air of confidence and self-control that she wore like a cloak that struck Hermione.

"So," Hermione asked casually. "What's it like in the states?"

"Not much different from here, I expect. I haven't really spent much time here yet," Jule said. She was lounging in the chair, leaning back with her long legs stuck out in front of her. "My parents are muggles, in case you were wondering. I know that there's more prejudice here than back home. More old wizarding families. Back home there aren't all that many, most didn't leave their home countries to settle in America, so most of the 'purebloods' only go back a few generations and there're lots of muggleborns. You aren't a stuck-up pureblood by any chance, are you? 'Cause, now would really be the time to tell me."

"Oh no, no, of course not," Hermione hastened to assure her. "My parents are muggles too. But you're right; there are a few who'll bother you about it. Basically all of Slytherin House, really."

"Slytha-what?" Jule asked curiously.

"Slytherin. Hogwarts has four houses; Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin." She spoke the last with distaste. "I'm a Gryffindor."

"Interesting. I gather these Slytherins are the standard breed of Pureblood ass-hole?"

"Most of them." Hermione smiled. She liked this new girl; she was intriguing.

The whistle sounded and Hermione glanced up in annoyance. "Oh no! The trains about to start and my idiot friends aren't here yet! I hope we don't leave without them."

"Who're your friends?" Jule asked politely.

"Ron Weasley and Harry Potter."

"Are they really? Fascinating. Is Harry Potter as hot in person as he is in all the papers?"

"Oh, well, yes he is," Hermione answered distractedly. She was looking almost frantically out the window, searching for her missing friends.

"Oh, we made it!"

Hermione spun around. There stood Harry and Ron, both breathing heavily.

"Hi Hermione," Harry said cheerfully. "How was your…" He drifted off as he saw Jule sitting next to Hermione.

"Guys, this is Jule. She's new." The boys just continued to stare at the new girl. Hermione realized how they would automatically over-look her in favor of Jule. She was just plain old Hermione, not exciting enough for the boys at school. She was a bit on the short side with bushy brown hair and a little extra baby fat. She wasn't exactly ugly, she knew, but she wasn't interesting at all. She wore plain clothing that covered her completely and rarely wore anything but her uniform. It also didn't help, she supposed, that she never wore make-up and spent all her time hiding behind books. Her skin was slightly tanned from the summer and her eyes were the same chocolaty brown as her hair. Over-all she was boring to look at, completely average.

The boys seemed able to pull themselves together now. The stopped drooling over Jule's long and exposed legs and held out their hands. "Harry Potter," Harry said at the same time as Ron said: "Ron Weasley."

"Oh, so you're the boys Hermione was looking for," Jule looked them over calculatingly and stood to shake their hands. Hermione realized that she had been wrong about Jule's height being the same as her own; the girl towered above her by about five inches. Of course, then Hermione looked down and saw her black boots with platforms that were about five inches thick.

The boys accepted the outstretched hand with enthusiasm, hardly able to tear their gazes away from Jule's low-cut tank-top and well-formed breasts. Hermione rolled her eyes. The other three people in the compartment sat down. "So," Harry started. "Where are you from? Your accent is American sounding."

"I would say your accent was British sounding," Jule said flirtatiously. "I'm from New York. The Death Eaters burned down my old school."

"I'm so sorry!" Harry always got upset and guilty about anything relating to the Death Eaters.

"Don't worry about it," Jule still sounded flirtatious.

"How was your summer Hermione?" Ron asked without taking his eyes off of Jule.

"Great," Hermione mumbled.

The four spent a few hours riding the train with Harry and Ron talking to Jule, who flirted shamelessly with both of them and occasionally tried to include Hermione. Hermione had just opened up a book when the golden trio and their new friend got their annual train-ride visit from none-other than the ferret-prince himself.

"Pothead, Weasel, Mudblood, pleasure to see you all again," Malfoy announced grandly as he shoved the door to the compartment open without knocking. "I've been absolutely desolate without your wonderful company all summer long." Then he noticed Jule. "Oh look, a new girl. From your clothes I'm guessing you could only be another mudblood; pity. You really are quite attractive for a piece of filth."

The boys leapt to their feet. Hermione, who was expecting them to defend her, readied herself to stop them. She always loved when they tried to kill Malfoy on her behalf; it always showed how much they cared. Her mouth was half-opened to stop the impending fight when she heard what came out of Harry's mouth: "Don't you dare talk about Jule that way!"

"Yeah!" Ron added valiantly.

Hermione was speechless. Wouldn't they even defend her at all? Malfoy, it seemed noticed this. "Oh look Granger; you've been replaced as the stupid mudblood already. Poor baby," he added wickedly.

The boys hardly noticed. "Now get out, you slimy git!" Harry shoved him out of the compartment. Malfoy's back slammed into the wood of the compartment door opposite theirs painfully, but he didn't care. He just kept smirking at Hermione. She shifted nervously; the look he was giving her told her quite plainly that he could read her every thought and feeling with just a look. He grinned at her evilly and then sauntered off. Hermione shivered.

"Sorry about that," Harry was apologizing. Hermione looked at him expectantly, but he was speaking to Jule. "That's Malfoy. He's like the king of Slytherin and he hates us."

Jule ignored him. "Are you OK Hermione?" She asked kindly. Hermione smiled at her reassuringly, feeling less invisible at last.

Harry looked at Hermione guiltily. "Oh, sorry Hermione," he mumbled, poking Ron with his elbow.

"Oh, yeah, we're sorry Hermione. We were just caught up with defending Jule. You understand; she's new and doesn't know about the amazing bouncing ferret yet." Ron added.

"It's OK guys," Hermione said, smiling in a motherly way at them. "I understand." /Yeah, I understand that you both have your heads shoved so far up your asses you can't notice anyone but yourselves and the new hot chick/ she added silently. She hastened to smother the thought in positive feelings. Hermione often had such thoughts but rarely voiced them. After all, you catch bees better with honey than vinegar. It was her mantra.

Hermione settled back into her seat, reading her book and ignoring her friends. In truth they were ignoring her, but it made her feel better to think that it was her own bad manners rather than that her friends were blatantly ignoring her. She dimly noted sometime later when Jule switched seats with Ron so that Ron was sitting next to Hermione and Harry and Jule were making out. Hermione snorted quietly as Ron sighed in jealousy before she went back to ignoring everyone. Especially the slurping noises coming from across the compartment.

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Eventually the train ride ended, like it did every year, and the students had to get off. Jule said her good-byes to Harry, Ron, and Hermione and went to join the first-years where they flocked around Hagrid. Harry and Ron noticed Hermione again and the three rode the carriages up to the castle. At some point, unnoticed by the three in the carriage, it started to rain. It wasn't heavy, more of a mist than anything but they were still all rather damp by the time they reached the Great Hall. They sat down at the Gryffindor table and waited for the sorting to commence.

"I hope Jule gets sorted into Gryffindor," Harry said with slightly swollen lips. Ron just nodded and glared at Harry enviously.

"Yeah, me too," Hermione said with less enthusiasm. She liked Jule, but the way that she tended to attract the attention of everyone present made Hermione feel left out.

"Ooh look, here they come!" Harry said excitedly as the first years, Jule, and several other older children followed McGonagall into the hall. It seemed that Jule wasn't the only kid whose school had been destroyed.

The sorting hat sang its song along with the little warning for the houses to stick together and the sorting took place. Each house got a few first years and several older children, although Slytherin only got one. Ron spent the entire ceremony moaning about being hungry, that is the entire ceremony until Jule had the hat placed on her head. Everyone was staring at her, the boys admiringly and the girls jealously. She did have quite a bit of her body exposed, after all. The hat considered her for several long moments before shouting, "Gryffindor!" loudly. The Gryffindors cheered their welcome to her as they did for all new students, although it was plain that the boys were cheering rather louder than the girls.

"Hey guys," Jule sauntered casually over to the golden trio and sat next to Hermione, leaving the unoccupied seat next to Harry empty. He looked a bit disappointed.

"Hey," Hermione said, trying to sound equally casual and not really thinking that she had succeeded. "Congratulations on getting into Gryffindor."

"Thanks," Jule smiled widely and surveyed the Great Hall, taking an extra moment to inspect the stormy ceiling above. "It always like that?" She asked, gesturing towards the clouds. "'Cause that'd get real depressing after a while."

"No," Hermione also looked skyward. "Just when it's like that outside. The ceiling is charmed to reflect the sky outside. Usually it's pretty nice here. Although, for some strange reason it almost always seems to rain on the first day."

"It's a tactic used to scare first-years, prolly," Jule said casually, sniffing curiously at the strange food about her. "My old school used to do that. It keeps them sedated so the first day goes smoothly, and you know first impressions, a stormy night makes the whole atmosphere of the school more dramatic and mysterious."

First impressions, Hermione thought. Her first impression of Jule was that she was nice, if a bit on the slutty side. But then, if it wasn't hurting anyone, Jule could slut away as far as Hermione was concerned.

"I don't think so," Hermione replied. "Hogwarts is pretty mysterious, but Dumbledore's nice. I don't think he would use a 'scare tactic' like that on a bunch of eleven year olds." Ron rolled his eyes.

"Ignore Hermione," he said dryly. "She thinks she knows everything about everything."

Hermione smirked sarcastically at him to hide how much his words stung. /Bastard/ she thought bitterly//Just because I'm smarter than you doesn't mean I think I know everything./

"I personally think it's a brilliant theory," Ron continued, leaning his elbow on the table and cupping his face in his hand. It was the first time in Hermione's memory that he had ever sat at the Gryffindor table without constantly shoving food into his mouth. The fact that he was practically drooling over Jule made Hermione slightly nauseous. She had thought he had some respect for women, and for Harry who had just been kissing the damn girl.

Hermione rolled her eyes and looked over Harry's shoulder, across the hall to where Malfoy was grinning maliciously at her. /Huh/ Hermione thought lazily//Malfoy, malicious. Why didn't I ever make that connection before/

The rest of the meal was filled with similar idle chatter and inner thoughts of annoyance at the stupidity of boys. Hermione was really feeling quite neglected. No one had even commented on the fact that she was wearing her shiny new Head Girl's badge. She had put it on just before dinner, during the sorting, and no one had even blinked at it.

When at last Dumbledore announced that dinner was over, Ron and another prefect led the sleepy first years, and Jule, up to the common room. Hermione walked with Harry, the two of them trailing slightly behind the clump of eleven year olds.

"Isn't Jule great?" Harry asked dreamily. Hermione rolled her eyes and bit her tongue.

When they at last reached the portrait hole Hermione stopped short. "Good night." She said loudly enough to snap Harry out of his fog and make him notice her.

"What are you talking about? Aren't you coming in?" Harry asked in confusion.

"No," Hermione said slowly. "I'm the Head Girl. See the big, shiny badge?" She flashed it at him. "I have a separate room and a common room with the Head Boy. So I'll see you tomorrow."

"Oh," Harry still seemed surprised. "Congratulations?"

"Thanks ever so," Hermione allowed some sarcasm to slip in before she caught herself. /Honey, dammit/ she thought angrily at herself.

"Well, uh, good night," Harry said dimly.

"See ya," Hermione casually stuck her hand in the air and walked away.

Reaching a portrait of a rather unattractive, elderly witch, Hermione sighed out the password, "Mot de passe." After many years of French, Hermione found the password crude and childish. Really, all it meant was "password" except that it was in French. /Whatever/ Hermione was too depressed to care about stupid passwords. She had made a new friend, but her new friend also looked like she would inadvertently ruin Hermione's last year at Hogwarts with Harry and Ron.

Strolling into the common room Hermione was not one bit surprised to see the amazing blonde ferret sitting casually on the couch, flipping through a Quidditch magazine. "Evening, Malfoy," Hermione mumbled darkly, barely glancing at him as she strode towards her room, slamming the door behind her and flopping down on her new bed.

Malfoy just blinked after her for a moment, before shrugging and continuing to read his magazine.

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Hermione flipped herself over on her bed and stared at the ceiling, sighing discontentedly. The year had held such promise, but now that seemed ruined. Everyone else was entranced by Jule, and Hermione would be replaced and forgotten. Sighing again, Hermione surveyed her new, lonely room.

The room was almost completely blank. There was a four-poster bed, a chair, a small fireplace, a book-shelf, and a chest-of-drawers. But they were all bare and everything was white. It would be Hermione's task to unpack and decorate the room as she saw fit.

Figuring she would have to get started eventually, Hermione pulled her wand out of her sleeve and started casting charms. She made the chair, bed, the book-shelf and the chest warm, deep red wood. She then made the drapes on the window and around the bed, as well as the sheets and comforter, a deep-burgundy, and she covered the floor in squishy, brown carpets. Using the accio spell, she quickly filled her book-shelf as well as her chest-of-drawers, and she covered the walls with pictures of her friends and family, as well as a few muggle posters that she had brought with her.

Surveying her walls Hermione felt a little better, until she looked at one of the pictures she had put up without realizing it. It was a picture of her, smiling in the arms of a boy with brown hair. He had been her summer boyfriend, the first real boyfriend she had ever had. Now she regretted knowing him. Ripping the picture from the wall and tearing it to shreds, Hermione collapsed upon her bed once more, and this time she fell asleep.

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The next morning Hermione awoke with a nauseous headache pulsing behind her eyes. It almost felt as though she had drunk too much, except that she knew it was just her feeling lousy inside being reflected physically. Rubbing her face Hermione groaned and felt like breaking something.

Hermione dressed quickly in her same old uniform, the one that was long and loose enough to make her look a bit like a lump with arms and legs. Popping a few Advil, Hermione stood in front of her full-length mirror and surveyed herself. When she looked at her face she stuck her tongue out at herself just like she always did. It helped her avoid looking too closely at herself. She didn't like what she saw.

Lugging her huge bag, stuffed with summer homework, Hermione stomped out of her room and into the common room, where once again Malfoy sat on the couch, this time looking like he was waiting for her.

"Morning Malfoy," Hermione said, walking past him and heading towards the portrait. With the speed of a seeker Malfoy raced to stand in front of her.

"Granger, we need to talk," he said seriously.

"Why?" Hermione asked acidly. No need to use honey on this one; he was a wasp, and.

"Because, we have to live together, and I think some ground-rules need to be laid down here and now."

"Well I don't care what you think," Hermione spat at him, trying to walk around him. He moved with her, still in her way. "Let me pass. We have classes this morning."

"Not until you listen to me," Malfoy said stubbornly, moving to the right as Hermione tried that direction.

Sighing, Hermione gave up. "Be quick Malfoy."

"Alright," Malfoy said. "First and foremost, don't go in my room," "Like I'd want to," Hermione muttered. Malfoy pretended not to hear. "Second, if you wish to address me, I would take it kindly if you would refrain from such childish epithets as 'ferret' or 'bouncing ferret' or anything to do with ferrets whatsoever. I in turn will stop calling you mudblood, even though you are one, if only to keep the peace," "Damn decent of you," Hermione said sarcastically. Malfoy still ignored her. "And thirdly, if I happen to come back to my room accompanied by a girl, I would appreciate it if you would not listen at my door. I know you want me, but you'll just have to contain your lust." He grinned evilly.

Hermione rolled her eyes and snorted. "Fine, whatever. Here are my rules: first, stay the hell out of MY room. I know you want to rummage through my panty-drawer, but 'you'll just have to contain yourself'. Second, fine, I won't call you ferret, but if you even so much as hint at me having dirty blood, I'll turn you into a ferret in a flash and have you bouncing all over again," Malfoy blushed, "And thirdly, you sicken me. If you bring a girl back, please have the common sense and decency to cast a silencing charm or two. I really don't need to hear Pansy Parkinson screaming in the throes of ecstasy, thank you very much."

"Done?" Malfoy asked pseudo-politely.

"Yes," Hermione said. "Now move before I ferretize you, please?" Malfoy stepped aside with a mocking bow. "Merci beaucoup," Hermione curtseyed back just as mockingly before pushing the portrait out of the way and stepping into the hallway.

"This year'll just be buckets of fun," Malfoy muttered to himself before following after Hermione into the corridor and towards the Great Hall.

TBC…..

Because I am the coolest author ever here is a preview for you all:

The entire room was filled with a strange golden glowing, tinged with red in some places. Hermione pulled her hand from the globe, but the glowing continued. When she looked at the golden ball Hermione saw that it had turned clear, as though truly made of crystal. Within it she saw herself, plain old Hermione, standing completely still. Suddenly her image morphed into…

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